MedPage TodayPhysical Exercise Tied to Greater Cognitive Reserve in Women

Higher levels of physical activity were associated with greater processing speed reserve in older women but not in older men, according to a recent study. This is good news, as dementia may be slowed by cognitive reserve, the capacity to maintain cognition in the face of brain damage. A cognitively active lifestyle that includes reading and information processing may delay the onset of dementia in Alzheimer’s disease by up to 5 years in persons in their 80s, according to recent research. Other research has suggested that cognitive reserve may be one factor in some centenarians’ ability to resist cognitive decline in the face of brain dysfunction.